Business Rivalry (Re-posted)
by Sabor Tooth Tiger
Summary: Ludwig is a single father who lives with his older brother. Ludwig works for a famous drug company called Bleeding Hearts, who is on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. Ivan works for a rival company with a bad reputation and it's his job to spy on the Bleeding Hearts by getting to know the number one scientist. What happens when Ivan's feelings clash with his job?


Chapter 1

I don't own Hetalia.

_**Re-posting this. I lost the single files so here's all of the first nine chapters. I am working on number ten but I'm a bit stuck and in a slump so here this is. RATINGS MAY CHANGE! Depending on how I feel.**_

A/N: This story was slightly requested. At least a part of it was. RATINGS MAY CHANGE BUT YOU HAVE TO TELL ME IF THEY SHOULD. I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's basically a few cute moments as well as a hint of Ludwig's and Gilbert's past.

**Business Rivalry**

**Summary: **Ludwig is a single father who lives with his older brother. Ludwig works for a famous drug company called Bleeding Hearts, who is on the verge of discovering a cure for cancer. Ivan works for a rival company with a bad reputation and it's his job to spy on the Bleeding Hearts by getting to know the number one scientist. What happens when Ivan's feelings for Ludwig clash with his job?

**Chapter 1**

Another paper done, another formula completed, Ludwig was at his wits end with all the paperwork he had to file, fax, and test codes or formulas on. It had been days since he last had been in the lab and his fingers were itching to continue the project the company had been working on for about ten years now. No one really spoke about it because frankly, no one was sure if they'd ever reach their goal. Sworn to secrecy, they all agreed.

_They,_ being every single scientist involved in the **Bleeding Hearts** corporation's secret project known as _**"Life's Liquid"**_. It had nothing to do with making anyone young or immortal but it does have to do with lives. The sector that Ludwig works with had been working on the ultimate cure for cancer. It could remove cancer completely without complications...Problem was, **it didn't work!**

Testing the blasted thing was one problem after another. If it wasn't for the pestering of the funding, it was the strange "attacks" of the rival company known as **Scarred Minds** who mainly dealt with things involving the mind. True, they have the worst reputation when it came to addictive things. The productions of that company were worse than heroine when it came to people being hooked on the stuff but sadly, there had been no evidence that the people from **Bleeding Hearts** could successfully keep a hold of to put the **Scarred Minds** out of business.

Each passing year became more and more challenging for them because those who worked at Scarred Minds were getting more daring and were caught breaking and entering late at night each month.

Ludwig sighed and took off his glasses to set them on his desk with his paperwork. After rubbing his face, he took a glance at the clock that was hanging on the wall.

_'8:30,'_ He found himself thinking. '_It's past Francis' bedtime. I best get him to his crib.'_ With that, he stood up, letting his back pop and he groaned, hoping that his brother hadn't given the toddler anything to rial him up. Exiting his office, he locked the door and placed the key in his pocket. It was important that Ludwig do that for inside his office, were top secret files that belonged to the company. He was in charge of keeping it all safe.

Going down the steps, Ludwig could hear the faint breathing of his albino brother and he continued to follow it until he reached the living room. Gilbert was fast asleep on the couch with Francis asleep in his lap. The toddler sucked his thumb as he sat on his uncle, completely unaware of the war movie going on that the volume had been lowered to a dull roar. Yet they slept on, ignoring the bright flashes of the TV.

The blonde German couldn't help but give a smile at his brother and his adopted French son as he went to the television and turned it off before he picked the toddler up and held him close. Francis, sensing his father, snuggled into the warmth of Ludwig's shoulder and continued to sleep. Ludwig gave a quiet chuckle as he took Francis to the toddler's blue room.

When Ludwig told everybody that his son's room was blue, he meant really, **really** blue. From the carpet to the walls, closet to the window, toys to clothes, everything the child had, must have been blue, otherwise Francis didn't like it. It was odd and boggled Ludwig's mind to no end. Going to the crib, he kissed his son's head before bending down and tucking him into the crib with his little blue blanket.

"Sleep well, my little one," He whispered and rubbed the little blonde hair. "You had a rough day and most likely, you'll have another." Standing there, watching the toddler sleep, Ludwig could only remember when he found the child, only three months old, abandoned by his mother and father. Boy had that been a disaster. But it ended for the best.

Turning, he snuck out of the room quietly and closed the door but left a small crack, letting a little bit of light in. His body was aching from him bending over his desk for hours on end as he dragged himself to the living room and sat on the couch beside his sleeping brother. He relaxed against the back of the couch and gave a pained groan as he heard and felt his bone popping. Taking a look at his brother, he was reminded about all the hardships the albino went through just to care for him while they lived with their abusive parents.

When Ludwig was little, Gilbert took all the physical and most of the verbal blows for him. But years ago, not even Gilbert could keep him from the harsh words of his mother and father. Words consisting of "stupid", "worthless", and the worst of it all, his own parents; his own GERMAN parents, had called him "Nazi" just because he looked like a stereotypical German which was funny because all four of them, mother, father, Gilbert, and Ludwig were all from Germany.

Gilbert snorted in his sleep, drawing Ludwig from his thoughts as he watched his brother move in his sleep before waking up and blinking the sleep from his eyes. When the albino realized the missing weight, he looked around frantically before spotting Ludwig and relaxing.

"I guess we fell asleep. What time is it, West." He asked and rubbed his face with the palm of his hands and then stretched. Ludwig rolled his eyes at the nickname Gilbert had given to him when he was a baby. "Just a little after eight thirty. When did you get off from work?"

Gilbert's legs popped when he stretched them and rubbed his neck. "Shit," He cursed and rubbed his hand on his hair. "Didn't get home until three this morning. I got an hours sleep before I had to watch Francis so you could get to work."

Ludwig felt his heart clench in guilt. "Why didn't you say that you just got back then? I'm sure I could have taken a sick day off-" Gilbert waved his hand, cutting the blonde off. "Don't worry about it, West. I like watching over Francis. Besides, that stupid company can't complete their dumb top secret project without the BEST scientist they have who's almost as awesome as me." Ludwig found himself rolling his eyes at his brother again.

"I wouldn't say I'm the best, Gilbert. I just work harder and longer than the others." He responded. Gilbert pointed in the air with a "victory" sign. "Thus, the best." Gilbert bragged. Ludwig sighed and lowered his head in defeat. With a quiet "whatever" he rested his head against the back of the couch, he felt himself beginning to fall asleep.

"Woah, Ludwig. Maybe you should head off to bed. Let the awesomeness help you." Gilbert joked as he grabbed his brother and half carried him off the couch and up the stairs to Ludwig's bedroom. Every time Gilbert went into his little brother's room, he was always amazed at how clean the blonde kept it. Ludwig's clean streak drove the albino crazy at times.

As Ludwig began to give in to exhaustion, Gilbert swept his little brother in his arms and carried Ludwig to his bed and laid him there and went to work on taking the blonds boots off. When that was done, he covered his little brother with the blankets.

"Oh, Ludwig." Gilbert said as he heard his brother's breathing even out, signaling that the blonde was now in deep sleep. "You're going to work yourself to death. Ease up." Then Gilbert did something he hadn't done in years and kissed his brother's forehead. "But don't you worry. Big brother will help you. He always does." As he went to the doorway, he took one last look at the younger German and sighed.

"I love you, little brother. And you know that." Turning off his brother's light, he shut the door to keep the hallway light from entering and keeping Ludwig awake.

_'What a day.' _Gilbert thought as he went down the stairs and started to head to the kitchen. He'd go to bed later. Right now, he just wanted to eat. Opening the fridge, he frowned. There was barely any food in there. He'd have to go shopping soon. Either that or he could get Ludwig to do that on his day off. He grabbed the milk carton and closed the fridge and set it on the counter.

_'Do we even have any cereal?'_ he mentally asked and turned to the pantry and opened it. "Ah-ha!" He exclaimed and grabbed a box of chocolate cereal. As he happily made himself a bowl of cereal and poured what was left of the milk, he could imagine his brother nodding in satisfaction and saying something along the lines of cereal being easy on the stomach and the best thing to eat at night.

Gilbert threw the carton out and went to the silverware drawer and opened it. No spoons. Taking a look at the sink, he saw a pile of dishes with water in them. '_Odd, normally Ludwig would have had everything cleaned. He was probably going to do that after he put Francis to bed.' _Then he sighed with a defeated look. _'I guess I'm doing the dished before bed tonight.'_

Going to the sink, he plucked up one that looked to have macaroni and cheese on it. Not even bothering to clean it off, he stuck it into his bowl of cereal. _'Mmm...Cheesy cereal. Tastes salty.'_ and he fought not to laugh at his thoughts. Ludwig would have had a fit that Gilbert was eating with a dirty spoon. West would have plucked it from his mouth and cleaned it off before giving it back to him and by the time Gilbert would get it back, he would have already resorted to eating the cereal with a fork.

The albino laughed, struggling to keep the food in his mouth. He loved irritating his baby brother and doing things that would make Ludwig shake his head. Years ago, Ludwig would get so pissed off over Gilbert's actions but now, the blonde just rolled his eyes and moved on. Maybe he was getting used to how his brother survived before he came to live with him.

Finally finishing with the cereal, he drank his milk and went to washing the dishes, including his bowl and spoon. It had taken him a good hour and a half to get finished with washing, drying, and putting away. By the time he was done, Gilbert was cursing at the fact that Ludwig won't let him get a dishwasher. They had enough for one but his brother insists that the dishes wouldn't "be cleaned properly." Even though it was now nine-forty five, Gilbert decided he was going to bed now. In a hurry, he sped walked into his own room.

With what energy he had left, he just threw all his clothes but his boxers off and curled in his bed, bringing the covers to his chin and breathed in the sent of the laundry detergent that Ludwig likes. Finally, after a few moments, he was sound asleep.

**Chapter 2**

Today was not one of Ivan's better days and he could admit that at this point as he listened to his boss yell at one of his coworkers. Tapping his pencil against his desk as he checked over the paper work that had been placed on his desk with multiple formulas, stocks, sales, and consumers over time. Sighing, Ivan placed the papers with formulas in a pile on his desk and rubbed his head. He was no scientist, that's for sure. To the Russian, all those formulas were just random letters and numbers.

"Braginski!"Looking up from his work, Ivan saw his boss motioning to him to step into his office as the worker he had been yelling at was currently running to the door, crying. No doubt about whether or not they were fired. Frowning, he got up and went to the boss's room, gaining many weary looks from people as he passed by them. Ivan couldn't hide his smile. They were terrified by him, he knew that. And he knew very well that it wasn't for his well being that people were watching him now.

Reaching the office, he closed the door and his boss stepped behind his desk and fixed his glasses. Neither made a move to sit. After a moment of silence, the older man rubbed the bridge of his nose and gave a heavy sigh.

"I assume you've read the paper work that had been set on your desk this morning?" The older man asked.

Ivan shook his head. "I am afraid not, Mr. Moore. I was about to when you called me into your office." he informed. Mr. Moore frowned and his eyelid twitched before he grabbed a random paper from his drawer and plopped it on the side of the desk, closer to the Russian. Interested, Ivan picked it up and looked over it. He then took a look at the displeased look on Mr. Moore's face.

"I do not understand what has you upset. Sales have gone up. You should be pleased." Setting the paper back down and slid it back to the other man but instead of picking it up, Mr. Moore slid it back with the shake of his head.

"Look at the list of consumers. I want you to read them to me." Confused, Ivan once again, lifted the paper back up and began to read.

"Myral Torrin, Jeker Bryan, Dan Cooper-" He listed and was soon cut off by Moore. "Do you know what all those people have in common, Mr. Braginski?" Ivan thought but shook his head. Moore scowled.

"All those men have addiction problems and have been convicted more times than I can even hope to imagine because they have been buying our drugs and selling them to make others high. Our drugs are medicine, and I don't know about you, but I'm not up for another law suit. We're not making money off the right kind of people."

Ivan just blinked and tossed the paper and it landed on the desk. "I am not sure what you expect me to do about the selling problem or who buys it. What would it matter anyway? Money is money, we make a profit no matter what they do with it and with all the warnings we place on the labels, there is nothing they can do to warrant a valid lawsuit." He watched as his boss shook his head in the middle of his speech.

"I agree with you but you do know who we are competing with, do you not?" He asked and Ivan nodded. "They make a better profit than us because the people that buy their medicine are mostly people who don't depend on drugs to survive."

"In other words, clean." Ivan butted in with a smile on his face. Moore snapped his fingers in his irritation at the Russian. "Don't interrupt me. As I was saying, They are being paid more by those who rarely need it. Alright, I can admit that our profits are lagging a bit and even this years increase, we won't be able to catch up to them with their new secret project."

Ivan lost his smile and blinked at his boss. "Secret Project?" He asked. "How interesting." Moore nodded, seeming more satisfied that he had caught his number one worker's attention.

"Yes. Our spies have reported that it's something so big that it will change lives. And knowing the Bleeding Hearts, they will succeed UNLESS we do something about it."

The Russian smiled and laughed inwardly at how much Moore looked like a kid at Christmas with this bit of news. Even if Ivan didn't know what his boss was getting to, he was all too aware that it would be interesting and fun in more ways than one.

"So you need me to do something otherwise you wouldn't have called me here and would have told your spies to do your dirty work. So, who do I beat up?" Moore looked a bit startled but was smirking joyfully.

"Oh, no, Braginski. You won't be beating anyone up this time and my spies can't get anything but the main scientists information." Ivan frowned. Where was the fun in his job if he didn't get to beat anyone up? Moore noticed his expression. "Now don't turn sour on me, Braginski. When you're done with this task, you may do whatever you want with the target." Ivan smiled.

"Alright, what is it you need me to do?" Ivan asked and his fingers twitched in anticipation. Moore smiled warmly and took out a picture of a blonde man with blue eyes. He was holding a blond toddler with pasty blonde hair and powder blue eyes. Handing the picture to Ivan's gloved hands, the younger man only had a second to look at it before his boss spoke.

"His name is Ludwig Beilschmidt. He is the top scientist in the operation and he's the one in charge. I want you to befriend him, no matter the cost. I don't care what you have to do to get him to trust you but get access to his private room or lab. Whatever it is that he may use to store his information and documents."

Ivan looked back up with a dark look. "Very well. This will be done and I will be back with your information." Moore smirked just as darkly.

**(-)**

"Hold still, Francis." Ludwig begged as he struggled to put shorts on his two year old son who fought to get his diaper off. "Nooooooooooooooooo." The toddler whined and wiggled. Ludwig held onto the child tighter and finally managed to get Francis dressed after fifteen minutes.

Francis began to whine as his father held him in his arms. "Now stop fussing." Ludwig scolded gently but Francis continued to whine."Hey, West!" Gilbert called from the front door. "You're going to be late for work if you don't get there soon!" Ludwig shifted the toddler to look at his wrist watch and he almost growled. This whole thing with getting Francis dressed for Gilbert to watch him made him run behind schedule.

Hurrying out of Francis' room, he handed the child to Gilbert who began to complain loudly as he was taken from his father's arms and into his uncle's. Ludwig grabbed his keys from Gilbert's outstreached hand and kissed Francis on the head.

"Be good and I love you, Francis." The toddler just kept on fussing. Gilbert was grinning. "Aw, West." The albino whined obnoxiously. "Don't I get a kiss on the head too?" Ludwig scowled but hissed his brother's forehead near his hairline.

"Now tell me to be good." The albino ordered, grin still in place. The blonde just lightly bopped him on the head. "Don't push it." He growled and went out the door and to his car. As the front door closed, Gilbert turned his attention to the fussy child.

"I know. I don't feel like wearing pants either." With that, he took the shorts off the toddler, leaving Francis in a diaper and a shirt. Francis laughed and clapped as Gilbert set him in his playpen with all his toys and took off his own pants so that he himself was in boxers and a tank top.

"Ah!" He stretched and flopped on the couch. Turning on the television, he kept a watchful eye on Francis. After all, neither of them were hungry or tired so there was really, nothing for them to do until after Francis had his nap.

**(-)**

"I can't believe I'm late by five minutes." Ludwig growled before sighing. He didn't blame his son for keeping him late. It had been a hot day and the clothes he had put the poor child in were thick and itchy but that didn't really matter. Knowing Gilbert, he would have let the toddler run around in a diaper the second he pulled out of the driveway.

He was relieved that there were only two people there when he pulled in. That meant that the boss was running late as well. He locked the car and put his keys in his pocket when a sudden weight crashed into him from behind. Ludwig turned to see the brown hair of Feliciano, his coworker and best friend. Feliciano was in charge of cleaning the place up after everyone but Ludwig and Kiku left.

Feliciano smiled up at him in his close that made him look smarter than what he already was. Not to say that Feliciano was dumb, oh no. The Italian was intelligent in his own way but there was not a chance that he'd make it to scientist level. All of those who worked for the Bleeding Hearts company, aside Feliciano who had on a different outfit because he was a cleaner, had to wear a white shirt and tie with a yellow vest and a blueish purple jacket over. The pants they wore were were the same blueish color but with a design on it.

Feliciano's workers outfit was a bit different. He too had on a white shirt and tie but over that, he had to wear a brown jacket-like vest and dark brown pants. Kiku worked in the lab with Ludwig so he had on the same kind of clothes that Ludwig had but unlike the Kiku, the German had to wear reading glasses. It was one of those moments he cursed his problems with small wording on the documents he had to read.

"VE~ Hi, Ludwig! You got mail today." The Italian said happily as he finally let Ludwig go. Ludwig arched his eyebrow, not surprised in any way at the fact that he had mail. Most of the stuff he got were documents that he had to sign for approval. At this time, Kiku chose to approach them.

He bowed his head a little as he usually did whenever Ludwig came by. "Ah, Ludwig-san. Miss. Katen has arrived and unlocked the doors. We can go in now." the German turned to the Asian. "Thank you, Kiku. Any idea why she was late today?" He asked.

Kiku nodded. "Yes." He responded shyly. "Her sister had a baby last night and she wanted to stay with her for a while."

"A bambino!" Feliciano cried happily and turned to Kiku. "Was it a boy or a girl?" He asked as he shook excitedly. Kiku stared at the Italian. "I do not know that Feliciano. I did not think it important to ask." the Italian's smile dropped right off in disappointment. Ludwig placed a hand on his Italian friend's shoulder.

"Lets go in. I would like to get this paperwork over with." He said. Feliciano regained his happy demeter and skipped inside the building, followed by Ludwig and Kiku who were quiet all the way.

Ivan couldn't help but smile as he watched three people go in the Bleeding Hearts company lab. The place had been easy to find considering they have their logo of a stitched up heart sticking on the roof. He had gotten a good look at the three who went in and recognized his target. He didn't need the picture to remember the face of Ludwig Beilschmidt.

"Excellent." He said and took out a press pass he had forged. The pass was enough to allow him access into the lobby but that was a one shot deal. He'd have to make a good impression on the German male if he wanted to complete his task for his boss.

Chapter 3

I don't own Hetalia.

A/N: sorry people, I have been on a time restriction on any electronics so either I move out or the restriction is dropped or altered, I won't be able to update often. I can't move out because the government made a new law and I can not keep my financial support for collage if I move out so I'm here until I graduate I guess.

**Chapter 3**

_'Files are nothing new.'_ Ludwig grumbled mentally as he read over the documents that had sat on the table in the lobby when the three got it. As he read, Kiku had been working on some of the equations that Ludwig had missed last week. He wrote furiously on the notepad he carried with him everywhere. While the Asian had no expression on his face, Ludwig could tell that he was irritated with doing the math part of the work. Feliciano, on the other hand, just started singing some ridiculous song in Italian.

From the corner of his eye, Ludwig spotted Alfred and Arthur walk in; Alfred wearing an outfit like Feliciano's and Arthur wearing one like Ludwig and Kiku. More people came in but the German just ignored them and went back to reading the documents. All this happens each day and ends up with Ludwig thinking about his brother and son. When Feliciano had stopped his singing and Kiku stopped writing, that caught his attention. Kiku stared ahead with his blank expression and Feliciano was looking in the same direction but with a sad and confused look on his face.

"Ah, Excuse me. Which one of you is Ludwig?" a shy, childish voice asked out of the blue. Looking up from the folder and papers that rested on his arm, he spotted a man that was taller than the German and the same build. He wore a tan coat, tan pants, boots, a pink scarf, and a press badge attached to his coat. But what really stuck out was his hair and purple eyes, along with his childish features.

Putting a hand to his waist, Ludwig raised an eyebrow and his glasses slid a little. "That would be me. How may I help you?" Ludwig responded and the man gave a smile that made him think of a child. "Oh, I am Vladimir Brodiska. I am from the press."

The blonde frowned as Kiku went back to writing but he looked nervous now but Feliciano smiled and waved. "Hello! I'm Feliciano. Do you like pasta?" The Italian cried cheerfully.

Sadly for him, the Russian ignored him. Sighing, Ludwig tossed the papers back on the table where he found then and placed his glasses in his pocket before taking Vladimir by the arm and dragging him distance away from the other two to where they couldn't hear the German and Russian.

"Look, I told every newspaper and news cast that I wasn't going to do any interviews. So if that's why you're here, you can just-" But Ludwig was cut off by the Russian who laughed. As polite as he was, Ludwig just couldn't stand any of the press. They get under his skin. "I am afraid I have a confession." Vlad said with a smile. "I am actually on my day off. I just wanted a chance to talk to you. After all, I couldn't the last time we met."

Ludwig raised his eyebrow again. "I don't believe we met before." He said bluntly. Vlad shrugged. "It was six years ago when you announced your success with the medicine to prevent seizures. I was the go getter guy at the time. Ludwig scrunched his eyebrows as he tried to remember. He had been on heavy anti-depressants at the time and couldn't remember much from that time.

Giving up, the blonde shook his head and turned back to the taller man. "So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

The other man looked down hesitantly and gave the impression that he was really shy. "We had got along so well and you had told me that if I got further in my job that we would get together to catch up." There was a pause. Ludwig pinched the bridge of his nose before massaging it.

"I-I can go if you want." The Russian turned to leave but the German grabbed his arm gently. "No, no. It's alright. I have to admit, when that medicine came out...I don't have a lot of memories of that time... Listen, We can talk about this later. I really need to get back to work. We'll talk after I get off at nine."

Vladimir smiled brightly again. "Da, we will meet then." Then he turned and left the building, leaving the German standing there confused.

**(-)**

Ivan couldn't help but smile. His plan had been going very well and the best part was that his target had fell for his obvious lie. He stepped out of the building and got into his car and looked at his car clock. 10:11 am. Now what was he going to do until his target gets out at nine pm?

Turning on the engine, Ivan pulled out of the parking lot and drove out and away. His thoughts drifted back to the conversation he had earlier. Oh yes, he had done his research well. There had been a go getter named Vladimir Brodiska that had been fired for smuggling pot in the studio.

Stopping at a red light, Ivan took a quick look at Ludwig's file that he had mysteriously acquired. So, the German enjoyed Italian food. Who knew? Making a creepy smile, Ivan turned a corner as the light turned green. He now knew where they were going when Ludwig got off of work.

After all, his boss DID say that he could do whatever he wanted to get the information.

(-)

A/N: R&R! I know it's short but I had to stretch my restriction and this is what you get so, I'm sorry. Plus, I was out of ideas.

Chapter 4

I don't own Hetalia.

A/N: Sorry I haven't been updating. I just had been depressed lately. And with how things have been going lately, I might be able to update more than what I had thought.

**Chapter 4**

Nine o'clock and it was finally time to go home. Ludwig sighed and rubbed his eyes before shrugging off his lab coat and hung it up on a rack a long with his goggles. Stretching, he heard his back pop, curtsey of hours bent over microscopes, papers, and test tubes. From the corner of his eye, he saw Kiku and Feliciano getting ready to leave even though Feliciano had to stay a bit longer than the rest to help along with Alfred. He spotted Arthur yanking his goggles off so roughly that there was the sound of the strap snapping the Englishman's head.

Wincing at the sound, Ludwig bid the Kiku and Feliciano goodbye before he left the building and was on his way to his car to drive home when-

"Oh, you are finally out. I was worried that I had missed you." Turning, the German saw Vladimir and he mentally groaned. He had forgotten that Vladimir and he were going somewhere to talk. "Ah, Vladimir was it?" Vladimir nodded with a smile.

Hastily, the blond brushed his fingers through his hair. "I must apologize. With all the work I have been doing, I completely forgot about our plans. Let me call my brother and we'll be on our way." With that said, the Russian gave a laugh and waved him off as if to encourage him.

Ludwig then turned away and walked over to his car and took out his phone.

**(-)**

Ivan was having a good time. His little project was feeding right into his hands. Now all he had to do was get and keep the German in a close yet manipulative friendship and maybe, if he played his cards right, he would have a bit of 'fun' with the blonde.

In a way, Ivan could imagine the blonde mewing in pleasure with his face red and his skin sweaty. Ivan quickly shook those thoughts away. He didn't need those thoughts to distract him at the moment. Fixing his scarf, he watched Ludwig from a distance as the German seemed to be growling at his brother from the other end.

The scene was amusing so Ivan gave a smile. To the untrained eye, it was cute but for those who knew the Russian, that meant danger and so they would shy away from him. Ivan didn't like people to shy away from him. So he beat them up. They made funny noises each time.

A/N: I know it's short but I'm having a brain flop. No idea what to add next. I could use your help, people. R&R!

Chapter 5

I don't own Hetalia.

A/N: Reviews make me update faster. I thought this story had been forgotten or people hated it with the lack of reviews this got. I see I was wrong. By the way, I borrowed a few translation books a bit back and wrote notes for this chapter which was a pain to figure out.

Still having a poll here, Mpreg or no. Should I change the rating? You all need to tell me. It's the reviewers choice.

For those on deviantart, Sorry there's not cool picture with this chapter but I need help on that too. Sorry once again.

**Chapter 5**

Shoving his phone back in his pocket, Ludwig sighed. Hopefully his brother would get the voice mail he had sent. Turning around, he saw Vladimir standing by a shining, silver car with a well furnished interior. The German raised a tired eyebrow in question.

"Your car looks very expensive. How much does a reporter get paid? Certainly not enough to afford this." The Russian just smiled.

"Da, that is correct. I have another job that pays very well. I work for a company." He stated and opened the passanger door for his guest who was hesitant but got into the car anyway. Closing the door, Vladimir went to the drivers side and got in and closed his own door. As Ludwig buckled, he kept an eye on the other man.

"You're not buckling?" Ludwig asked worriedly as he noticed that the other man began to drive. Vladimir shook his head. "Nyet. We are not going that far. Just to a little Italian restaurant I saw a little ways." Ludwig bit his lip.

"But what if you crash?" Ludwig continued. Vlad just smiled. "Do not worry. I am a very careful driver. I will not crash." The German kept quiet for the rest of the ride and watched as they drove into the parking lot of the Restaurant that Feliciano's grandfather owned.

Inside, there was quite a bit of idle chatter from the other costumers that resided in the building. Ludwig shivered from the slight cold air that the vents blew. His companion next to him gave a look of concern. "Are you alright?"

The blond nodded. "Ja. It's just a little cold. I'll be fine." Was his response as he zipped his coat closed. He still had his work cloths on and his OCD was screaming for him to get into the proper attire for a place this fancy. Ludwig always hated being under dressed to a place like this even if it was owned by his best friend. The Russian gave a slight nod, unsure if he believed the other man before they were once again in an awkward silence. At least, until a waitress came over and took them to a table and plopped two menus down on the table.

"Your server will be out in a moment." She said with a shaky voice. From what Ludwig could see, Vladimir seemed to intimidate her and she hurried away as quickly yet politely as she could. Ludwig took a sip of water that the waitress had brought earlier and turned to see the other staring at him.

"Is something wrong?" He asked and lowered the glass. That seemed to snapped the other man out of his thoughts and he laughed. "Nyet. Nothing is wrong. I was just thinking about the day I first met you. You seem a lot more at ease now than that time."

It was a statement, Ludwig knew there was no doubt about it. Nodding slowly, he thought about his how heavily medicated he was and fighting depression. "Ja." He responded slowly and placed the glass to his mouth and nibbled the top with his teeth a bit out of habit.

"I had just gotten out of a bad surgery at that time. With the medicine I took, my body couldn't recover as naturally as it should have and my hormones went crazy." He wanted to smack himself. What was he doing?! You don't just go blabbing about that. Looking back up, he noticed that Vlad was looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Why did you need surgery, if it's not to much of a bother asking." Vlad asked as he placed his head in his hand to get comfortable, with a blank look on his face but eyes full of curiosity. Ludwig bit the glass again but lightly.

"I had cancer. It had seeped into my appendix. It had gotten pretty bad and it was on its way to my heart. I was lucky that they caught it but they had to do it the same day that they discovered it. It was at a dangerous stage." He quickly placed the glass and resorted to picking at the table cloth.

"They told me that there was a chance it could come back. The doctor told me that the chances of it appearing in my heart was really likely." The blond sighed. "As I recovered, I went into a depression and after the seizure medicine came out, My brother forced me to go to France with him." Ludwig gave a small laugh.

"To be honest, it was the best thing that had ever happened to me." With a smile Ludwig's eyes met Vlads again who seemed to be staring at him warmly. "And why was that? I would have hated it if I was forced to go to another country."

Francis popped into the German's head and he smiled. "That's were I got my son." Vlad cocked his head in confusion. "I did not know you had a son."

-0-

Ivan mentally cursed. So this man was a father? This complicated things a bit. And he also had cancer? That would explain a great deal about the others drive to make the cure. Who would want to die from a bunch of cells that mutated over time?

The scientist got a faraway look in his eyes. "Yes. Francis. He turns four this year. His birth parents through him out into the streets because they wanted a little girl. His mother was sexist and his father was just as sexist against his own gender which was why he dressed like a woman most of the time before committing suicide. Him and his wife had been in an arranged marriage and she verbally abused him." Ludwig paused. "Getting her to release custody was one thing, getting her to court was another." Then he sighed and looked at Ivan.

"Sorry about that. I tend to ramble. Feliciano usually stops me." He said with a chuckle. Ivan laughed slightly. His little project was amusing if not a bit naïve. But not naïve in a bad way, oh no. It was actually kind of cute and sweet. It's just too bad that he would have to break the German. Shame really, he rather enjoyed listening to the man ramble.

But that would have to wait, with the new information of the man's brother and son, it would take longer than planned. Ivan would need to befriend them as well. The child should be easy to warm up to him, the supposed brother, on the other hand, might be a little bit of a problem. No matter, as long as he got the German in his bed, he might have a chance of getting the information that the blond had locked away somewhere.

"What about you?" The other man asked, snapping Ivan from his thoughts once again. "I'm sorry. What?" Ivan asked, giving the German his full attention.

"Tell me about yourself. What company do you work for?" Ivan wanted to laughed at this question. "How silly of me to forget. I work at a, how would you call it? A clothing company." The Russian responds with a wave of his hand. It was a good thing that he used to work at a clothes company now that he thought about it.

Ludwig bought the lie and nodded. "That make since. Especially with the car. Those who work with clothes get good money." Ivan nodded along with Ludwig. Finally, the server had appeared with a nervous smile on his face.

"Apologies. It is rather crowded here tonight. Now, what would you like to eat?"

-0-

Belly full and completely satisfied, Ludwig got back into Vladimir's car which Vlad had also gotten into of course. Vlad just took one look at his passenger and held back a laugh. The other man looked completely satisfied with the meal he had.

"Good meal I'm guessing." Vlad laughed and Ludwig managed a smile. "Yes. Yes it was. Danke. I hadn't had Italian for almost three years now."

"No money?" Vlad asked and buckled and Ludwig did the same. "Nien. I didn't have the time. I'm so busy with work that I can barely spend time with my own family and Gilbert's always working late so I don't have much time with him anyway." Ludwig paused then gave a little groan as Vlad started the engine. "I'm too full to drive. Would it be alright with you if you could take me home. You don't have to, it was just a question."

-0-

"I'm too full to drive. Would it be alright with you if you could take me home. You don't have to, it was just a question." Just the sentence Ivan was hoping to hear. That way, he'd know exactly where his little pet lived. Giving a smile, he began to pull out of the parking lot.

"Not a problem. Just tell me where you live. And what about your car?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. Ludwig just waved his hand. "No one will bother it while it's in the restricted parking. That place it guarded better than prison. Besides, I'll ask Kiku to pick it up tomorrow."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "This person has a key to your car?" From the corner of his eye, Ivan saw Ludwig nod. "Ja. His car breaks down a lot and he lives nearby so I let him borrow it as long as he informs me about it."

It wasn't a long drive to Ludwig's house and as Ivan turned into the driveway, immediately, he heard shouting and a laughing child. Looking at the house in annoyance, Ivan could not help but ask. "What is that noise?"

Ludwig in his seat sighed. "Das durfte mein bruder gewesen sein." He muttered and Ivan just stared at him. "What?" he asked.

Ludwig sighed again. "That was my brother. He must not have gotten my message." Ivan nodded slowly before speaking. "Tonight was fun. Maybe we could get together again and talk?" This brought a smile from the German and he nodded, quickly writing his number on a piece of paper and handing it to Ivan. "Even though we just met, I had enjoyed myself and the short break what just what I needed. Thank you." Getting out of the car, Ludwig thanked Ivan once again and disappeared into the house. Ivan could only smile at his success and placed the number into his pocket before driving away.

-0-

When Ludwig got in, the first thing he thought of was Gilbert doing his best to look like a parent who was ready to scold a child. He wasn't disappointed when he closed the door and turned to see his brother who looked like he was a teenager rather than an adult.

"How's Francis?" Ludwig asked and shrugged off his coat, not phased by Gilbert's angry appearance at all. "Er ist gesund." Was the Albino's short reply before blowing up, waving his arms comically.

"Where have you been?! I have been waiting for you for hours and you hadn't appeared! That is not awesome!" He exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger at his brother. Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"I left a message on your phone, telling you that I went to an Italian restaurant with a guy." Gilbert froze for a moment and a large smirk grew on his face. "Ohh, West was on a date." He said as he leaned in, smirk never leaving his face.

Ludwig blushed at the sudden realization how it had seemed. "Nein, NEIN! It wasn't like that." He exclaimed, holding his coat in his fist tighter. The albino laughed and wrapped an arm around the taller man's shoulders. "It's alright if you swing that way, West. Your big brother is too awesome to judge you. After all, I did a bit of experimenting myself when I went out with that little Canadian before I found out I liked girls. Oh-But guys are awesome too-"

"Gilbert, shut up!"

"Zipping!" Gilbert exclaimed with his grin and made a motion over his mouth like he was zipping his lips shut. Ludwig sighed, blush still on his face and he hung the coat up. "It wasn't like that. It wasn't a date. A guy knew me from my depression days and he wanted to talk for a while." He murmured but Gilbert heard him anyway and made a motion to "unzip" his lips.

"I understand West. You are in denial. But tell me this one thing." He paused, allowing his younger brother to look at him. "Was he hot?" Next thing the albino knew, the kitchen towel smacked him into the face.

A/N: Oh, Gilbert. We love you. XD R&R!

Translations:

Da – Yes (Russian)

Nyet – No (Russian)

Ja – Yes (German)

Nein – No (German)

Das durfte mein bruder sein – Roughly Translates to "He might/Probably was/Have been my brother" (German)

Er ist gesund – Translates to "He's healthy." (German)

Punctuation on the German words may be a little off because my program didn't have a correction for it. If I missed any, let me know.

Chapter 6

I don't own Hetalia.

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**Reviews make me update more and faster. So PLEASE review.**

**Warning: One or two curse words.**

**Chapter 6**

"What exactly do you mean when you said that my car had been vandalized?" Ludwig asked irritatedly into his phone. He had gotten a call from Kiku when the Japanese man went to pick up the German's car. He could hear Kiku shifting his weight slightly.

"Well, I went to get your car like you asked but my car had broken down so it took me forty-five minutes to get there on my bike. When I got there, the tires were slashed-one missing, pieces of the engine were missing, the inside was completely destroyed and the windows smashed along with the lights." There was a pause. "It is most unfortunate for this to happen. I am sorry."

Ludwig placed a hand to his face and counted to try to lessen his temper. Who would do that? It wasn't exactly the best car, it was old, noisy and rusted with no worth to anyone aside from the owner who actually drove it. "Ludwig?" Kiku questioned from his end when Ludwig had not answered.

The blond took his hand from his face, still irritated and angry. "It's not your fault, Kiku, you don't need to apologize. Do you know of anyone who can drive us who's nearby?" He asked. There was a pause in which Ludwig assumed that Kiku was thinking or he was holding information that he knew would displease the German. "Kiku?"

"Ah, hai. Alfred lives just twenty minutes away from where I live. If he hurried, he could probably get you to work in time since he goes there anyway." Was the response from Kiku. Ludwig bit his lip. Alfred was a good guy but he was just too loud and his car was a bit of a mess on the inside and plus, the American's driving frightened him more that Feliciano's. No, he'd just have to get someone else to take him.

"No thank you, Kiku. I will see if my brother can take me. I appreciate the offer." he thanked. After a quick hang up, Ludwig rushed up the stairs and went into his brothers room to see Gilbert still sound asleep in bed with the covers wrapped up to the top of his head, showing nothing but a mop of white hair. Still in a rush, Ludwig shook the lump in the blankets that was Gilbert and the albino woke with a snort.

"Wazzat? Was going on?" Sitting up tiredly, he stretched and rubbed his eyes before spotting the culprit. "West? What's up?" He yawned and scratched his head.

"I need you to take me to work." Ludwig stated and glanced at his brothers clock. Gilbert grumbled. "And why do you need the awesomeness at eight fifteen in the morning? I don't go to work until five." The albino whined and laid back down and went to cover himself in the blankets when they were ripped away by his little brother.

"Gilbert, please? I'm in a hurry and someone vandalized my car. I don't have a ride." He begged but Gilbert just waved him off and rolled to his side, back to Ludwig. "I can't take you West. My bike's in the shop and who'd watch Francis?" Then he yawned and promptly fell back asleep, leaving the blond to curse at his bad luck alone.

-0-

Ivan shoved the tire into his trunk and sighed in exhaustion as he closed the hood. He had spent all night tearing apart his target's car and not a single trace of the plans that he was assigned to find. He sighed once more and wiped the grease off his hands and onto his coat, not noticing that he had oil on his face until he sat in the drivers seat of the car and looked in the mirror. Angrily, he took a napkin that he kept in the car and did what he could to wipe the oil off, leaving a gray smudge. The car was a pain in the ass to find in that dark parking lot and Ludwig wasn't exaggerating when he said how guarded his car was there.

He rest his head against the seat, he was so tired from being out all night and tearing the car apart but hey, he got a good tire from it. Shame he had to destroy the others but only one would fit in the trunk. He had to admit though, he had been sloppy with the car but he didn't care right now. Maybe now that his car was ruined, Ivan would have a better opportunity to get closer to the little pet. Speaking of the man, Ivan slightly wondered if he should give the guy a call, just to keep up appearances.

Taking the number out of his pocket, he put it into his phone's address book before calling the blond. Placing it at his ear, he listened as it rang one...twice...

"_Hello?"_ Bingo.

"Good morning, Ludwig. I just thought that I'd call and say hello and to see how you were doing." He said, fighting to keep how tired he was from his voice.

"_Vladimir? Oh thank God you called!"_ Who?-Oh yeah. Ivan had forgotten for a moment.

"Is something wrong?" He asked in fake concern, wide awake now. There was a sigh on the other end.

"_Kiku called me and said that my car had apparently been vandalized, do you think you could take me to work if you're not too busy? I know this is asking a lot-" _Was it asking a lot? Ivan wondered but after a while, he figured it is one step to getting closer to his target.

"It's not trouble. I remember where you live and work so I should be straight there." He stated and started his car. "I was just leaving anyway."

He hear the blond breathe a sigh of relief. _"I can't tell you how thankful I am for this."_

Ivan laughed tiredly. "Nonsense. I will be there shortly, do not worry about it." Buckling, he backed out and gave a quick farewell to the person on the other end.

"One step closer, my little sunflower," He said with a dark smile. "And one step closer to slowly plucking your petals right before your eyes."

_'Oh yes,'_ Ivan thought. _'You will look so good underneath me begging for more as I take your formula away from you.'_

-0-

"Once again, thank you for bringing me here." It had been a long ride and Ludwig had been thanking him the entire time. Ivan wanted to pound his head in the steering wheel but wouldn't dare. He just got to the point of nodding every time the German thanked him.

To his relief, they reached the parking lot and as Ivan parked, he turned to Ludwig before he could get out. "Listen, Um...I've been wondering, I know what the main medicine of this place but they hardly seem enough to give you the kind of work that requires you to be here from nine in the morning to nine at night. What's going on?"

Ludwig gave him a look. "What are you-"

"You have rings and bags under your eyes, it's not hard to notice." Ivan butted in. Ludwig turned a little red.

"Really? Hmmm...I'm not really at liberty to tell you what's going on at this point. But it's really important and could keep millions of people from getting sick and dying." The blond smiled slightly and Ivan fought to snarl. He wasn't in the mood for games since he already knew what they were trying to make.

"Sick, you say. The human body is able to adapt to many medicines, and if you cure a disease completely, another one will take it's place that's more deadly. Why go through all the trouble?" He grumbled more to himself. The German raised an eyebrow.

"This particular disease is painful and slow. No one wants to die slowly and painfully. If anything, we might be able to lesson it...Please, don't push this,Vladimir. I can not tell anyone at this point." Knowing he wasn't going to get anything else right now, he nodded.

"Maybe someday?" He asked with a playful tone in his voice. Ludwig gave another small smile. "Maybe. It all depends on the results."

"Understandable." Ivan responded and got out from the car, followed by Ludwig who gave him a questioning look. "I need to stretch my legs. They're a bit cramped." The blond gave a nod in understanding.

It was quiet for a short while when the taller of the two broke the silence. "Hey, how about after work we could go out for a bit. I know this nice bar that has your name on it." He pointed at Ludwig with a teasing smile as he fixed the scarf around his neck with his other hand.

-0-

Ludwig was very tempted by the offer. He hadn't had a good beer since he got surgery which was three years ago. After all that time, a good drink sounded as good as water did to a person in the desert. Biting his lip, he thought about hoe Gilbert needed someone to watch Francis since they both were going to be away. Of course, knowing his brother, he'd get Antonio to watch him so there shouldn't be a problem as long as his brother listened to his voice mail.

Glancing back at Vladimir, he nodded happily. "Ja, it sounds like a good idea. It's been so long." Vlad chuckled. "Of course. Don't forget your ID as proof. This place is strict about ID since it's had so many teens try to sneak in, hence the word TRY because they failed." Ludwig gave a little, quiet laugh at that and turned his head to see Alfred getting out of his car.

And that's when the strangest thing happened. The American turned to wave to him when the guy froze and glanced between Ludwig and Vlad before his eyes turned to pure hatred on Vladimir. Ludwig shivered as he had never before seen the American so angry, so COLD. Normally the man was care free and happy but the sight of Vlad had turned this happy go lucky man into a bomb waiting to go off.

Apparently, Vlad had seen what Ludwig was looking at and froze. "Ah, maybe I should go. I will pick you up later. You have my number?"

Ludwig glanced away from Alfred and to Vlad before nodding. "Yes, I saved it to my phone when you called."

Vlad smile was strained but Ludwig just guessed it was because of the hostile man watching them. "Da, that is good. I will see you at nine then. Dasvidaniya." And with that, Vlad hopped into his car and drove off, leaving Ludwig a bit stunned.

-0-

Ivan cursed as he reached a stop light. Alfred Fucking Jones was there! That stupid American will ruin everything! No!

Ivan took deep breaths and found himself calming down. No, he will not let some CLEANER to ruin his chances of getting a good lay and complete his job. He just needs to be careful and take baby steps. If he does anything wrong, he would give himself away and he didn't need that. Not when he's so close.

Rubbing a hand through his hair, he let out a heavy breath. He needed to stay focused and concentrate.

Chapter 7

I don't own Hetalia.

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the reviews! They make me so happy to get. Oh, and **Reader**, I totally agree with you but I like to involve reviewers when it comes to these and I want to thank you especially for your advice. People, find Me and more of my stories on . I'm Sabor Tooth Tiger.

By the way, I noticed I forgot a translation in the last chapter when Ivan said "Dasvidaniya" so here it is.

**Translation:**

**Dasvidaniya – Goodbye (Russian)**

There we go now on to the voting which won't end until much later in the story, like chapter 20 or something. I haven't officially thought of when the vote stops.

**Results**

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**Rate Change:**

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**No: 0**

**Chapter 7 (Yey, we made it this far!)**

It had been a long day at work with all the chemicals, formulas, equations, debates between scientists, Feliciano being as clumsy as usual, and Alfred staring at him with that calculating yet worried look. All this was enough to give Ludwig a headache worse than a hangover. The blond was desperate for that drink from that bar Vlad was taking him too. Working all week, including at home, was making his back hurt from being bent over looking through a microscope, mixing chemicals, and giving made pills to willing test subjects. The more they worked on it, they didn't seemed to getting any closer to the cure for cancer.

Ludwig stood up with a pop in his back very much like it did each time he got up. He hated these simple machines that they had to work with. But with very few funding they got, they tried harder to complete their tasks but each time they went to ask for more money from the government, it seemed like they got blocked at every turn. The Scarred Minds had much more money than them but there was no way that the Bleeding Hearts would go to ask them for some of it. The Scarred Minds had been after their hard work for years while they got rich off of selling cheap drugs that were more harmful than productive.

Groaning from how stiff he was, Ludwig massaged his neck as he shook a test tube lightly to mix the chemicals together. It turned a sickly green which was the opposite result that the Blond was wanting.

"Ve~Ludwig, It's almost closing time." Feliciano said as he waltzed over to his friend with a worried look. Feliciano had known Ludwig since high school and quickly found out how obsessed the German was for good results which tended to keep the man awake for weeks on end. Ludwig's head turned to him before he hissed from the sudden movement from which his neck protested fiercely.

"Ah," He groaned. "Ja. That would probably be best." blue eyes hit the clock on the wall. He had five minutes before Vlad would get here to take him to the bar so he needed to hurry and change into the casual clothes he had brought from home. He put the test tube in it's slot and went to place it in what he liked to call it, The Freezer since it was just as cold as one but had a light on when you opened and closed it.

The Italian grabbed his arm before the blond could lift it and crinkled his nose in irritation. "Don't worry about cleaning up, Ve~. That's my job. Go home and rest." Ludwig mentally thanked his friend and went to leave before turning to see Feliciano sweeping the floor where some glass that Arthur had dropped earlier.

"I won't be going home right away, Vlad's taking me for a drink. I don't want you to worry if you call and I don't answer." He stated somewhat tiredly and the brunette stopped sweeping to give the blond a sweet smile.

"Ve! You have a date? That's wonderful! Can I meet him sometime." A blush seeped onto the blonds face. "It's not a date." Ludwig struggled out, fighting his embarrassment. "Why does everyone think that it is? Vlad's not interested in me that way and you already met him."

Feliciano tilted his head in confusion. "I have?" Ludwig nodded and grabbed the door handle. "Do you remember yesterday? That's him." The Italian's smile grew wider at the information. "Oh, him! He seems nice," He cheered happily. The other man gave a smile and took a quick look at the clock.

"Well, I need to meet him in...a minute. So I'm going to change quickly and head off. Good Night Feli." The Italian waved to him as he opened the door. "Bye Luddy!"

On his way out, he almost ran into Alfred who looked to be in deep thought. "Alfred?" Ludwig asked and the American jumped before turning and giving him a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. "Ah! Hey there, Ludwig. Long day today, huh?" the blond just nodded slowly, giving the American a strange look and the man in question coughed in his fist like he was trying to cover up something.

"So, you in a hurry? I need to talk to you." Alfred continued with a serious air that Ludwig had never thought the dirty blond would have. Glancing at his wrist watch, it was nine on the dot so Vlad should be here by now.

"I can't really talk right now, I'm meeting Vlad and I need to change real quick. I'm sorry, maybe tomorrow." He needed to get away from Alfred. Something was off about him and it was making him uncomfortable. Quick as a flash, the American's hand was clutching Ludwig's elbow as if pleading. Startled, Ludwig turned to look at him with wide eyes, heart beating quickly.

The dirty blond's eyes were full of worry and concern. "Listen, you need to stay away from that man." Ludwig's jaw dropped completely gobsmacked at what the other was telling him. "Wha- Alfred, what is wrong with you today!?" Yanking his arm free he turned to leave but Alfred blocked his way, pale as a sheet now.

Grabbing Ludwig's shoulders, he stopped him and the German looked in his eyes, noticing quickly how frightened the other man was for him. "Ok, so maybe that was a little harsh but you have to believe me when I say that you don't want to associate with that man. He's Crazy!"

Ludwig was glaring now and all he wanted to do was punch him in the face. "You just can't go off and tell me who to _associate_ with and who I can't. Whatever is wrong with you, you better get over it and fast." He threatened and pushed away but the other wouldn't move and it ended up being a staring match until Alfred gave up and sighed.

"Fine...Do what you want. Just...Just watch out for yourself. I don't want you hurt." Ludwig's glare softened until it vanished completely before changing with understanding. He clasped the American's upper arm and looked into his eyes.

"I will be careful. Don't worry so much, my friend." Ludwig watched a small smile litter the man's face. But he couldn't stop the feeling that it was fake.

-0-

Ivan tapped the steering wheel impatiently as he waited for the German to get out. As he waited for the man, he watched as people piling out and he spotted Kiku. Oh, Yao wasn't going to be happy that Kiku worked for the enemy. As he looked around more, there were less and less people leaving the building before the flow of people stopped. Looking at the clock on the dashboard Ivan growled. The man was fifteen minutes late. Angry that he might have missed the other man, he turned the key the rest of the way to start the engine when there was a knock on the passenger window and he saw Ludwig himself in different clothes and breathing heavily.

'_About damn time.'_ Ivan wanted to say but held it back as he smiled at the German and let him in. The man fell into the seats gasping for air. "I apologize for being so late. Alfred stopped me in the hallway and I had to change-"

"Alfred, was he the man glaring at me earlier? What did he want?" Ivan interrupted, angry at the American. Ludwig looked shocked at the interruption but answered anyway.

"Yes he was. He was telling me to stay away from you. Silly isn't it? He was really worried about me. The whole day, he was behaving really odd. Strange isn't it?" The blond asked before shaking his head to rid the worry and smiled.

Ivan nodded mutely and said more to himself than anything "Yes. How strange of him." Then he faced the front and began driving to the bar.

Dammit! Not even a day and already Jones was interfering with his plans. Damn how he hated that man! Even in collage, the man was always able to get under his skin to the point he wanted to strange the American until he stopped breathing. Jones always had a way of getting in his path and he ALWAYS ruined everything that Ivan worked so hard to achieve.

"Hey, are you alright?" Ludwig asked worriedly with furrowed eyebrows. Ivan just gave a reassuring smile. "Do not worry. I am fine. I was just thinking of what to drink when we got there. It's been a little while since I been there." He reassured without a thought only to stop at the realization on how true that was. It had been a while since he had been there.

-0-

The first thing that Ludwig noticed was how noisy it was and how crowded it appeared. But it had a light to it that was warm and welcoming. Placing his ID back into his pocket, he followed Vlad to the bar where a woman served. The bar stools didn't look comfortable but Ludwig noticed how much it's look was deceiving for a wooden stool.

After a few costumers, the bartender arrived to Ludwig and Vlad with a smile. "Hey, honey. I haven't seen you for a while. Your usual?" Vlad gave a cheerful smile and nodded. "Da. And my friend here would like your best beer, I am assuming?" Ludwig nodded slightly, still getting used to the music and noise around the place.

"Coming right up." She stated after Vlad handed her the correct amount. Next thing the blond knew, a big bottle of German beer appeared in front of him and vodka in front of Vlad. Ludwig must have had looked surprised since the woman responded. "It's imported in. Many people who come here are German or come from German families and they request this a lot. Hope you enjoy, love." Then she hurried off to another costumer who had finished his drink and wanted more.

Still surprised and pleased, Ludwig grabbed the bottle and glanced at the brand and a smile covered his face. It was a really strong brand, one that he hadn't had in years. He wasted not time in taking a long swig and felt the familiar taste and burn down his throat. Vlad just laughed at him and took a drink of his vodka as if he were drinking water.

"I see that look. Are you glad you came here?" The Russian asked. "Let's hope your tolerance is really high because you can order as many as you want. After all, I'm paying and money isn't an issue."

-0-

Ludwig didn't disappoint. Ivan watched as he downed bottle after bottle after bottle to the point he had drank himself drunk. Ivan had been so intrigued by the amount the other one had drank, he had only reached his third bottle, after all, he didn't want to get drunk himself when he was trying to get his little pet himself drunk.

"You're drunk." Ivan laughed and the German just swayed in on his stool, almost falling off when he raised his hand to point. "M'not dr-ugh. nk." The other slurred in response and swayed again before turning back to Ivan.

"Yur, Pritty," He slurred and nearly fell on the other man. Ivan just laughed and held onto him so he wouldn't fall. This was amusing. "Am I now?" He asked and used his free hand to take a drink from his bottle when he felt a hand on his face and noticed how close Ludwig had gotten.

"Pritty, M'I pretty? Gilbert says so. But he's so wire-weer, wouud. He weird." Apparently the man was to the point that he was stumbling over words. Ivan said nothing as he placed his hand on the German's cheek and rubbed his thumb lightly over his face. The blond's face was red from the alcohol and his eyes were dim with a goofy smile on his face. Instantly he was reminded of another man who he once managed to get like this. Shaking his head, he turned his attention back to his target.

That's when the radio decided to play a new song.

"**Two single hearts on fire,**

**currently on the wire,**

**As ambitions fade,**

**A focus moment made,**

**Bruises and Bite marks say,**

**'Takes one to bring the pain',**

**Passion lies in screams,**

**Of estacitic dreams,**

**you're in a place for fear,**

**lips are for biting here,**

**lets make this moment worth the while,**

**lets kill the night and go down in style,**

**feel the magic rise,**

**we're plotting our demise,**

**of perspiration and alcohol as i introduce the bedroom brawl,"**

Oh if that didn't arouse him with the German here all vulnerable, he didn't know what would. Ludwig must have caught the mood and grabbed Ivan's coat clumsily, causing Ivan to hold him tighter to keep him from falling, causing the blond to moan.

"**you bring the ropes and chains,**

**I'll bring the pills and games,**

**I can show you pain,**

**and make you say my name,**

**you will believe my lies,**

**that im not like other guys,**

**that sparkle in my eyes,**

**is part of my disguise,"**

Ivan gave a hesitant breath as it seemed like the drunken man seemed to whine he gently held him away. As much as he wanted nothing better to have his way with the blond, he couldn't afford to lose his trust. Fighting the urge, he brought Ludwig to his feet.

"**you're in a place for fear,**

**lips are for biting here,**

**lets make this moment worth the while,**

**lets kill the night and go down in style,**

**feel the magic rise,**

**we're plotting our demise,**

**of perspiration and alcohol as i introduce the bedroom brawl,"**

"Come on. I will take you home." He said gently as he held the man's arm over his shoulders and drug him outside, already having paid for the drinks and the bartender gave a wave to him.

"By hun!" She called to him. "Don't wear him out, you hear? Not everyone has your stamina." She joked and Ivan gave a forced smile at her. Ludwig didn't seem pleased at the thought of going home, even in this drunken state, he made an attempt at escaping Ivan's grasp but only managing to push himself further to him, making a groan when Ivan tightened his grip to keep him from falling. With each step, the Russian felt his need grow more.

Each step was painful but end the end, he managed to get them both to the door and went to the car.

"**you're in a place for fear,**

**lips are for biting here,**

**lets make this moment worth the while,**

**lets kill the night and go down in style,**

**feel the magic rise,**

**we're plotting our demise,**

**of perspiration and alcohol as i introduce the bedroom brawl."**

-0-

Ludwig had stopped his struggling after he accidentally pushed himself into Vlad. He had gotten a good feel of what the purple eyed man had under that coat. The man had abs! More than Ludwig himself and Ludwig worked out. But the peck and abs felt so good to him in his drunken haze. Now he remembered why he never drank that often.

Gilbert had always accompanied him each time he went to get drunk. Even though the albino ended up getting wasted faster than him, he was at least there to keep him from making a fool of himself. A drunk Ludwig was a submissive Ludwig and he had wanted to keep that hidden as best as he could.

Despite the feeling of making a fool of himself in front of Vlad, the blond felt no shame and no guilt. In fact, he felt, kind of good. The feeling of Vlad being there was wonderful but to touch the other man seemed forbidden and exciting. And then there was a feeling he hadn't felt in years.

Lust. That was what he felt most of all. But It had always been with women, never had it been for another man before. Now he knew why Gilbert was how he was when he went after Elizabeta. But Vlad wasn't a woman, which was obvious.

Oh, his head hurt. He felt Vlad set him in the passenger of the car and buckled him in before shutting the door and going into the drivers seat. Common sense told Ludwig that Vlad shouldn't drive since he himself had consumed alcohol, but with Ludwig being under the influence, he didn't care. Oh boy, if Gilbert saw him now, the blond would never hear the end of it.

Gilbert...How was he handling everything? He was at work right now, right? He got off at twelve...Looking at the clock, Ludwig gave a giggle. It was one in the morning. Good thing tomorrow was his day off.

"You have any sibling?" He found himself asking as Vlad made a right turn. "Da. Two sisters. One oldest and one youngest." Vlad responded kindly. Hazy blue eyes landed on the man beside him. "Where are they? Don't you want to spend time with them?" He was starting to get sleepy.

Vlad yawned. "Oh, Da. But they're back in Russia. They have work there but I call them and send an e-mail every once in a while."

Ludwig made a giggle. What was so funny? He had no idea. "Ah, that's nice...Are they nice? I never had sisters. Only a brother who's loud." the German made a face that resembled a child who saw something yucky.

"My sisters are angels. Although my little sister has a temper and my older sister cries easily, they're very sweet." Rambling about his sisters always made him miss them more.

Ludwig let out a yawn. "Ah. I wish I could meet them." He yawned again. "Tired." was the last thing he remembered saying before he fell asleep right there in the seat, causing Vlad to watch the road darkly. "Maybe. Just maybe you will. But not until I break you into my puppet." He muttered and he felt a pang. Why did that suddenly...feel wrong?

-0-

Ivan remembered the house perfectly and pulled in, seeing a motorcycle in the driveway as he parked. Maybe that was this Gilbert that Ludwig kept mentioning. He must be the brother. Looking back at the blond who was passed out, he turned back to the house and sighed. He would have to carry him.

Ludwig wasn't heavy per say but he wasn't light either. He could feel the German's abs through his shirt when he lifted the man up in his arms like a bride and carried him to the door. Thankfully, there was a doorbell that was sensitive to the touch. At first, nothing happened so he pushed it again with his elbow when he finally heard a shout from the inside.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming!" Came the irritated voice and the sound of bare feet walking on polished linoleum came closer and the door was flung open to reveal an obvious albino. His white hair was messy and his red eyes drooped a bit to show how tired he was. He had a thin white shirt with a chick on it that said "Chillin' with meh peeps" and blue boxers.

'Wadya, want? Wha-West?" He seemed to wake up fully once he spotted his little brother in the arms of a stranger. Ivan gave a fake nervous smile. "I had invited him to some drinks and well...He passed out in the car. I thought I'd bring him home."

Gilbert just stared at him for a while. "Uh, yeah. Thanks and whatever." He muttered grumpily and grabbed his brother like he was a baby as if he weighed nothing. "Listen, thanks. I hope he behaved himself." He said cheekily.

Ivan's mind went back to when Ludwig was practically trying to claw his coat off in the bar and he sneered a bit. Gilbert must have known and the albino laughed at his expression. "Anyway, I can see why he'd go out with you. You're just his type. Anyhoo, thanks again for dropping my little bro off but now I need my sleep. I know I'm awesome but even I need my sleep."

Ivan nodded and said his farewell before going to his car and drove away once he saw the door to the house close. Pulling out and on the road, he grabbed his phone and called Moore.

There was a click and a grumbling at being woken up so late.

"_What is it, Ivan? Do you know what time it is?"_

Purple eyes glared at the road. "We have a slight problem. Alfred Jones is working at the company. He needs to be taken care of and I mean now."

-0-

"**Bruises and Bite Marks" By: Good With Grenades. **I thought it fit pretty well with how the relationship between Ivan and Ludwig is going.

**A/N:** Tada! TEN PAGES! WHOOO! I am SO awesome tonight! I also love writing Gilbert. He's so fun to write and his dialogue comes easy. It also makes me laugh. R&R It makes me write more and faster.

Chapter 8

I don't own Hetalia.

**A/N: **I just want you all to know I respect your decisions and what you like and don't like. Just letting you all know that I'm paying attention to your reviews. Now onto voting results.

**Results:**

**Mpreg: 4 (votes also come from Deviantart)**

**No Mpreg: 1**

**Rate change:**

**Yes: 2**

**No: 0**

**Warning: Cursing/Language**

**Chapter 8**

Hangovers weren't the best thing to have. It was one of the downsides of getting drunk. Rubbing his temple for the tenth time, he made another attempt to put a spoon full of baby food into Francis' mouth, who was more interested in squealing and banging the highchair table and trowing the food elsewhere. The loud toddler was making so much noise that it was a wonder that Ludwig's head hadn't split open yet.

He heard his brothers unique cackle as the albino appeared in the room, strutting. The older brother took one look at the blond and broke out into a loud cackle followed by little Francis who thought the whole thing was funny. Ludwig placed the plastic spoon down and held his head, groaning.

"Gilbert, please. My head is killing me." He begged. Gilbert stopped cackling but still had his grin. "Now who's fault is that little bro? I seemed to recall a certain blue eyed man who lives here, being carried back home by a tall purple eyed Russian last night after he passed out." With another cackle, Gilbert turned to make himself some coffee and glanced back at Ludwig.

"By the way, you can sure pick them. He was hot. Not as hot as me, 'cause you know, I am awesome. No one is better than me." he bragged and went back to making his drink when the phone rang. "I GOT IT! I GOT IT!"

Ludwig gave another groan as his brother ran out of the room, waving his arms frantically. Grabbing the plastic spoon, he held it up and Francis finally decided to eat after making a mess of the kitchen floor. Ludwig had managed to get Francis to eat three spoon fulls before Gilbert came back in with a cordless phone in hand.

"Hey, West. It's your little Italian. He wants to know if you'll go to the fair with him." The blond blinked. Fair? Was it that time of the year already? Once again, he set the spoon down. "Here, hand me the phone." Gilbert did so and they swapped places where the albino fed the toddler and Ludwig stood and spoke to whoever was on the other end.

"Hello? Feliciano?"

"_Ve~ Luddy! The fair's here, can you believe it! And it happened on the same week as it did last year!"_ To Ludwig, it seemed like the Italian was spazzing with how happy he sounded. The blond responded silently with a rub to his face.

"That's obvious." He muttered to himself, holding the phone away from his ear and placing it back shortly after the comment. "How did you find out about the fair? This is the first I've heard of it."

He heard the Italian giggle from the other end. _"It's in the newspaper. It's been in it all week. Don't you read the newspaper?"_

Thinking for a while, Ludwig couldn't exactly remember the last time he had read a newspaper since he had first gained a job with the Bleeding Hearts. How much was he missing since he had stopped reading it?

"_No matter. Are you going? Please say you are! I'm going with Romano but he's a jerk."_ Huffing a breath, he heard Francis squealing happily. It was both his and Gilbert's day off and it had been a while since he spent time with both his son and brother. And aside from the times he spent with Vlad, the fair sounded pretty good right now. A family outing.

He smiled. "Ja. Sure. I'll even bring Francis and Gilbert." Pulling the phone from his ear to avoid hearing Feliciano squealing happily and quite loudly.

Going into the kitchen with the Italian chatting happily on the other end of the phone, Ludwig spotted Gilbert covered in baby food while Francis had nearly the same amount on his face as he giggled happily.

"Hey, Gilbert." the albino glanced up at him. "How about a family outing to the fair?" His brother just answered with a smirk.

-0-

Ivan pushed his way passed people. The fair was hot and crowed this time of year and the smells of the food cooking was making him slightly sick but he couldn't leave. Had had orders from his boss and he wasn't going to stop now that he was so close.

"_I don't care what you do with him."_ Moore's hissing voice echoed in Ivan's head as a reminder of the call earlier about Jones. _"Just get rid of Jones in any way you can and make sure he doesn't reach the German. I got a tip saying that Jones was going to try to meet him at the fair. Stop him and do it now or the consequences will be...disastrous."_

Face by face, Ivan watched them, searching for the familiar face of one single American in a sea full of them. Each ride he passed by, he heard people screaming, laughing, joking, any noise a person would make at an event such as this rung out. Parents with strollers that held their babies wondered passed him as a parent would occasionally scold a child.

Growling to himself, he didn't even try to hide the glare. It was like finding a needle in a hay stack. Maybe he needed to search a different area. Just as the purple eyed man turned, a flash of a dirty blond hair with a cowlick, stuck up from the crowed and immediately, he followed where it went, behind two stalls and beside a tent where no one would see them, Ivan had Jones backed into a corner.

"You are quite careless today." Ivan stated with a smile as he saw Jones stiffen. The blond man turned around and glared the second he saw Ivan. "What are you doing here you freak?" the American spat. Ivan just placed his hands behind him and strode closer to Alfred until they were a mere foot apart.

"I am here for the same reason you are. I am enjoying the fair." he pointed out with a childish, yet threatening smile on his face.

Alfred growled. "Bullshit." He spat. "I know what you're here for and I won't let you near him. Stay away from Ludwig, you bastard!" Almost instantly, Ivan had his throat in his hand and Alfred's feet were dangling in the air as the tall Russian had him lifted.

"Name calling isn't very nice, Jones. And clearly, you are not in the position to be ordering me around." Ivan chuckled darkly, a cold air around the two that made the hot summer heat flee. Alfred clutched the hand that held to his neck tightly, fighting for air.

"How long has it been since you've gotten a break from guard duty? Still a lapdog are you?" the Russian taunted. Alfred managed to open his eyes in a weak glare. "Fuck you." He cursed. Ivan's hand tightened around his neck and he brought the American closer to him to whisper in his ear.

"Exactly what you said that day at the bar." He whispered. "The day I managed to please every little dirty secret about the police department from you." his smile grew wider as he watched the other struggle for air. "Isn't that right, detective?" A kick to his shin caused Ivan to gasp and dropped the American on his behind.

Jones began to gasp and choke for air, finally free from the monstrous grip. Ivan recovered quickly and grabbed Alfred's hair, forcing him to stare into the Russian's angry face. "Bad move, detective. You have one warning. Stay out of my way and if you go anywhere near the German, you'll wish you never even formed an alliance to the man." With a punch to the back of Alfred's head, the blond blacked out. Letting go of the messy hair, Ivan let the uncontentious man fall to the ground before leaving with a somewhat good mood.

Sneaking back into the crowed, he didn't make it far when he spotted the German family. Ludwig was wearing a blue button up and slightly tight, black jeans while Gilbert had on a white tank top and black skinny jeans. Ludwig was holding a baby dressed in blue and a diaper bag hung from his shoulder.

"Did you remember to pack extra diapers for Francis?" Ivan heard Ludwig ask his brother. He saw Gilbert roll his eyes. "Yes, West. I did put more in. I'm not stupid."

The Russian watched the blond's nose scrunch up. "Alright. Go on some rides. I can see that you really want to." It was true. The red eyed man was shaking and practically ready to jump. He didn't need to be told twice and bolted for the nearby hang glider ride. Seeing his chance, he made his way to the man and child. He'd make the call to his boss later.

Ludwig's back was to him as he approached but the toddler spotted him right off and began squealing and bouncing as if Ivan were an old friend coming to visit. The German noticed his son's excitement about something behind him and turned. He jumped with a gasp at Ivan's sudden appearance.

"Vlad!" He cried, startled. "What are you doing here?" Ivan gave a frown. "I had business to attend to. I just got finished and found you so I thought I'd say hi." Ludwig blushed. "Ah, Sorry. I didn't mean to seem rude. It was just a surprise." the blond apologized.

Ivan's smile reappeared. "It is alright. So, what are you doing here?" The blush faded from Ludwig's face. "Ah, I'm here with Gilbert. It's a family day." Then he turned to the toddler in his arms and the child giggled as his father poked his nose playfully. "This here is Francis. My son that I told you about."

Ivan gave an inward laugh and took a small, pudgy hand into his large one. Rubbing his thumb softly over the toddler's hand, he was amazed at how soft to the touch his skin felt. "Ah, How is little Francis doing? It is nice to meet you, little one." He shocked himself with how soft and gentle he sounded.

Little Francis just gurgled happily and held onto his father's shirt as Ivan let his little hand go. "He's very calm. Children are normally frightened of me because of my size."

Ludwig tilted his head with a small grin. "Francis loves people and he's not frightened easily...Except Arthur. The poor man can't get near him otherwise, Francis will cry and run to me. I don't know why." Then he hummed a little as he bounced the child slightly. "So Vlad. Are you having fun here?"

This time, Ivan was the one to tilt his head. "Well, I was here for an hour working. But I have time to relax now. Would you mind if I went with you and your brother?" He asked. It was true. It took Ivan an entire hour just to find Jones, which in his opinion was irritating. Ludwig shook his head. "Nien. I don't mind. You can come with us. We were just going to get something to eat. Would you like something?"

Before Ivan could refuse, his stomach growled and he looked down in embarrassment. He hadn't eaten all day and he wasn't really feeling up to eating fair food. But if Ludwig was offering...

"Da. I would. I didn't even have any breakfast this morning. Food sounds good right about now. Thank you." He answered. Ludwig's smile grew and began heading to where many food stands were. "I don't much care for most of the food here and I don't want Francis hyped on sugar. I was thinking soft pretzels. Francis has teeth so he can chew them and they're pretty decent here."

Ivan nodded happily. "Da. Sounds like a date." Then stopped momentarily and blinked. Ludwig hadn't noticed Ivan's sudden blurt out. What on earth possessed him to say that? It must be because he was comfortable around the other man...

...Yes, that must be it.

0000

A/N: Ta-da! Another chapter. Ideas would be lovely to have.

Chapter 9

I don't own Hetalia.

**A/N: **Sorry I havne't updated recently, I got distracted. Woops. XD Anyway, here's the next chapter and I hope you all enjoy. BTW Reviews make me update faster.

Also, I'm planning on changing my username but I'm not sure if I should...AHH! I forgot what Yao's last name was supposed to be. Lol. **This might be short because I'm tired and haven't been sleeping good at all at night, so yey...**

And here are votes.

**Nothing has changed.**

**Mpreg:**

**Yes: 4**

**No: 1**

**Rate Change:**

**Yes: 2**

**No: 1**

And there we have it. Here's chapter 9.

**Chapter 9**

"Please tell me you're joking." Yao begged. "Please, please tell me you're really not asking me to sew a stuffed toy. Ivan, you're an adult! You don't need one." the Asian exclaimed from behind the counter of the shop Yao owned. Funny enough, he sold medicine from both Bleeding Hearts and Scarred Minds so he was neutral.

Ivan just raised an eyebrow. "Calm down, it's not for me. Ludwig's son is turning four this week but I will be gone for a business trip so I won't be able to get any closer to my...Person of interest until I get back. I need a present for the child." He responded as he adjusted his coat. The Chinese man stopped his glaring and he too raised an eyebrow.

"Person of interest? You? You actually have someone you're perusing? You?!"

Ivan gave him a hard look. "Yes I do. Despite popular belief, I do have a need for social interaction of the romantic type. And he just so happens to have a child who is the age that you're stuffed toys sell for."

Yao began to scratch his head and walked out from behind the counter and down the isle with the stuffed bears for young children, Ivan followed closely behind. "Well...uh, alright. I have some that I made a while ago. Here's a good one." He stuttered dumfounded. As he reached for a black and white toy, Ivan's voice stopped him.

"Not that one." Ivan watched as the other man turned to him questioningly and he found himself going a slight shade of pink in embarrassment. "Ludwig told me that Francis would only take it if it was blue. So do you have any blue ones?"

Yao thought for a moment, bringing a hand to his face, resting his thumb to his chin in thought. "I do have one that I have finished but it's not a bear. It's an octopus."

"Deal."

**OOO**

Francis was very happy when he saw Ivan suddenly appear and even happier when he got his small chubby hands on that toy octopus. As he squeezed it close to him, he giggled as it squeaked. Ludwig spared a small smile to his child as Francis ran to show his new toy to his uncle who thought the squeak was the funniest thing ever.

All in all, between Gilbert and Francis squeaking that toy, the noise from the toy echoed through the house. Ivan just smiled at the German. "I had to give him his toy a bit early. I won't be here this Wednesday. I have a meeting all week and I won't be back until next Thursday." The smile fell from the blond but he nodded.

"I understand Vlad. Just be careful." The blue eyed man responded. Ivan himself almost lost his smile. For some reason, hearing the fake name from the German was starting to sting and the Russian didn't know why. Shrugging the feeling off, he rested a hand on the blonds head gently as the other man had been shifting a little bit. He had an uneasy expression which almost made the Russian laugh.

"Do not worry. I could call you once I get to Ireland, da? Would that make you feel better.?" He asked and was answered with a nod. Letting his hand drop back to his side, Ivan smiled. "Then I will call you."

OOO

Ludwig's mind at home had been shifting though nervous thoughts on if Vlad was alright. It worried him to no end. Vlad had called as promised but they were only able to talk for a few minutes. He huffed and shook his head. He was at work. He needed to think. Looking back through the microscope at the cancer sample, he added the newest formed chemical.

"AH! THAT'S IT! I GOT IT!" It was a very loud and sudden exclamation that he had made that the people in the lab were looking at him.

"Incredible! It Just eats away at the cancer. How on earth did you think of this?" the voice of Arthur Kirkland echoed through the crowed as he stood over the microscope. The blue eyed blond fought to keep a blush off his face. He really didn't want to admit that it was because of a shaky test. Nor did he want to admit that he used a sample of the Scarred Mind's so called "Cure All" tonic which worked more like acid than anything. But from the look on Arthur's face, Ludwig knew that he had known exactly what was used.

"Sneaky bastard." Arthur had huffed in a laugh. A very approving sign. Even if Ludwig was the one in charge, Arthur was the mother hen of the group. A mother hen that could turn quickly into a raging grizzly, something everyone learned that they wanted to avoid.

"How did you get it without them noticing?" Ludwig didn't need further questioning on the meaning. He found himself scratching his head with a nervous chuckle. "A friend wanted me to look into what it did to skin. He wasn't sure what it did and wanted me to see if it was safe for skin." he found himself lying.

The Tonic was actually something he saw Vlad drinking at the fair. The Russian had claimed he had headaches and drank that to lesson them. Later that day, Ludwig had asked to use it for experimenting. Vlad had looked confused but handed it over anyway. That's when the German saw the company label of the brain being shocked.

The Scarred Minds, Ludwig wanted to admit, had very special ways of blending and gaining very rare and useful ingredients that promised results. In fact, if they weren't so expensive, addictive, and deadly, they would have beaten the Bleeding Hearts on many of their most successful products, including the start of curing cancer. But fact was, the Scarred Minds wanted money, not safe results.

"Do not get head of yourselves." Kiku's quiet voice rang out. "We still need to test it." And that meant the rats they had. It wasn't the proudest thing that the company had but the rodents were the closest thing to human when it came to organs and biology and primates were a no go.

Ludwig nodded to his friend. "Ja. Go ahead and prep. I will be there with the recipe and other chemicals." Kiku nodded and went off to the other part of the lab.

Slowly, the crowed vanished until only Arthur and Ludwig remained. The green eyed man rubbed his forehead. "I hope you can get your hands on more of this stuff somehow. People there know you so unless your git of a brother can get it for you, I don't know how."

The German tilted his head and smirked. Instantly, his mind went to Vlad. He would hate himself for having the man do this but maybe there was a chance that he could get the Russian to provide him with at least ONE bottle of the tonic.

"I will see." He murmured. Grabbing a pencil and paper, he wrote down the recipe of the chemicals used and went to leave when foot steps stopped right behind him. Both the German and the British men turned to see Alfred's twin brother Matthew. He was sweaty with a red face. The man was gasping for breath as he huffed.

"Alfred's in the hospital." He managed to gasp out.

OOO

**A/N: **AH! I'm tired. Sorry it's short and if it doesn't make sense in some parts, I apologize. Is it just me or are there absolutely no girls in this story so far as a main character? ARG! I need more girls in here but I'm too tired to think of any.

Ideas would be wonderful. Tell me what you would like to see happen next. Tell your friends about me, read and review, good night until the next chapter. ZZZZZZZZZZZ


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